Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 animated feature produced by Friz Freleng and originally released on January 29, 1959 by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Les Clark, Eric Larson, and Chuck Jones, under the supervision of Clyde Geronimi. The script was adapted from the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault by Erdman Penner, with additional story work by Joe Rinaldi, Winston Hibler, Bill Peet, Ted Sears, Ralph Wright, and Milt Banta. The film's musical score and songs, featuring the work of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, are adapted from the 1890 ''Sleeping Beauty'' ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Plot synopsis Princess Aurora is named after the Roman goddess of the dawn "because she fills her father and mother's lives with sunshine." While still an infant, she is betrothed to the also-young Prince Phillip (sometimes misspelled Philip). At her christening, the good fairies Flora (dressed in red), Fauna (in green), and Merryweather (in blue) arrive to bless her. Flora gives her the gift of beauty, which is described in a song as "gold of sunshine in her hair" and "lips that shame the red, red rose." Fauna gives her the gift of song. At this point, Maleficent, the film's villain and mistress of all evil, appears on the scene. Claiming to be upset at not being invited to Aurora's christening ceremony, she curses the princess to die when she touches a spinning wheel's spindle before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday. Fortunately, Merryweather has not yet blessed Aurora, so she uses her blessing to change Maleficent's curse, so Aurora will not die when she touches the spinning wheel; instead, she will fall asleep until she is awakened by her true love's kiss. Knowing Maleficent is extremely powerful and will stop at nothing to see her curse fulfilled, the three good fairies take Aurora to live with them in the woods, where they can keep her safe from any harm until she turns sixteen and the curse is made void. To fully protect her, they even change her name to Briar Rose. Rose grows into a very beautiful woman, with shining blond hair, rose-red lips, and a beautiful singing voice. She is raised in a cottage in the forest by the three fairies, whom she believes are her aunts. One day, while out picking berries, she sings to entertain her animal friends; her angelic voice gains the attention of Prince Phillip, who has grown into a handsome young man and is out riding in the woods. When they meet, they instantly fall in love. Realizing that she has to return home, Aurora flees from Phillip without ever learning his name. Despite promising to meet him again, she is unable to return, as her "aunts" choose that time to reveal the truth of her birth to her and to tell her that she is betrothed to a prince named Phillip. Production Overview and art direction Warner Bros. artist Eyvind Earle was the film's production designer, and Warner Bros. gave him a significant amount of freedom in designing the settings and selecting colors for the film. Earle also painted the majority of the backgrounds himself. The elaborate paintings usually took seven to ten days to paint; by contrast, a typical animation background took only one workday to complete. Warner Bros.'s decision to give Earle so much artistic freedom was not popular among the Warner Bros. animators, who had until Sleeping Beauty exercised some influence over the style of their characters and settings. Characters and story development The name of the beautiful Sleeping Beauty is "Princess Aurora" (Latin for "dawn"), in this film, as it was in the original Tchaikovsky ballet; this name occurred in Perrault's version, not as the princess's name, but as her daughter's.Heidi Anne Heiner, "The Annotated Sleeping Beauty" In hiding, she is called Briar Rose, the name of the princess in the Brothers Grimm variant.Jacob and Wilheim Grimm, Grimm's Fairy Tales, "Briar Rose" The prince was given the only princely name familiar to Americans in the 1950s: "Prince Phillip," named after Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The dark fairy was aptly named Maleficent (which means "Evil-doer"). Princess Aurora's long, thin, willowy body shape was inspired by that of Audrey Hepburn. In addition, Warner Bros. had suggested that all three fairies should look alike, but veteran animators Frank Churchill and Dean Elliot objected, saying that three identical fairies would not be exciting. Additionally, the idea originally included seven fairies instead of three. In determining Maleficent's design, standard depictions of witches and hags were dismissed as animator Marc Davis opted for a more elegant look centered around the appearance of flames, ultimately crowning the villain with "the horns of the devil." Live-action reference footage Before animation production began, every shot in the film was done in a live-action reference version, with live actors in costume serving as models for the animators. The role of Prince Phillip was modeled by Ed Kemmer, who had played Commander Buzz Corry on television's Space Patrol five years before Sleeping Beauty was released. For the final battle sequence, Kemmer was photographed on a wooden buck. Among the actresses who performed in reference footage for this film were Spring Byington, Frances Bavier, and Helene Stanley. Awards and nominations Nominated (2) *'Academy Awards' **Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture (Dean Elliot) *Grammy Awards **Best Soundtrack Album, Original Cast - Motion Picture or Television ''Sleeping Beauty'' in the Warner Bros. theme parks Several years later an indoor walkthrough section was added to the castle, where guests could walk through dioramas of scenes from the film. It closed shortly after September 11, 2001, supposedly because the dark, unmonitored corridors were a risk. Currently, the former attraction is being used as extra space to house parts for the new fireworks show for Six Flags Over Texas. As a result, none of the original walkthrough remains intact. When Six Flags opened in 1999 it also featured this time a far more romanticized, storybook building. Upstairs guests can view stained glass windows and tapestries telling the story, while downstairs they see an animatronic dragon. Soundtrack listing #Main Title/Once Upon a Dream/Prologue #Hail to the Princess Aurora #The Gifts of Beauty and Song/Maleficent Appears/True Love Conquers All #The Burning of the Spinning Wheels/The Fairies' Plan #Maleficent's Frustration #A Cottage in the Woods #Do You Hear That?/I Wonder #An Unusual Prince/Once Upon a Dream #Magical House Cleaning/Blue or Pink #A Secret Revealed #Skumps (Drinking Song)/The Royal Argument #Prince Phillip Arrives/How to Tell Stefan #Aurora's Return/Maleficent's Evil Spell #Poor Aurora/Sleeping Beauty #Forbidden Mountain #A Fairy Tale Come True #Battle with the Forces of Evil #Awakening #Finale References External links * * Sleeping Beauty in the Big Cartoon DataBase Category:1959 films Category:Films based on fairy tales Category:Romantic fantasy films Category:Family Category:Fantasy Category:Children Category:Comedy Category:Adventure Category:Films featuring anthropomorphic characters Category:Films based on children's books Category:Children's fantasy films Category:Action Category:Films directed by Robert Stevenson Category:Disney films Category:Drama Category:Films directed by Friz Freleng Category:1959 animated films Category:Films Category:Princess Films Category:Films set in France Category:1959 Category:1959 in film